Modernize
VB6 Migration to the Web
Visual Basic 6 still runs a lot of working business software. Microsoft stopped supporting the VB6 development environment on April 8, 2008. The VB6 runtime is still supported on current Windows, but only for serious regressions and critical security issues, and there is no supported way to create or maintain VB6 applications. The people who can maintain it are getting harder to find.
VB6 applications run only on Windows and usually lean on COM components and ActiveX controls. Through Vivify, our modernization practice, we read the forms, modules, and code into a model, generate a standard web application in TypeScript and React from it, and test the new system against the old one.
See the full approach on Modernize, or the guide for PowerBuilder to web migration.
Sounds familiar?
- Nobody on the team can safely change the VB6 code anymore
- The app depends on COM components and ActiveX controls that are hard to replace
- Users need it outside a Windows desktop, in a browser
How the conversion works
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Read the code into a model
Vivify's Code Analyzer maps every form, module, and dependency in the codebase, along with the business rules inside them, into a model of the system. Gaps are flagged, not guessed.
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Generate TypeScript and React
Vivify's Code Transformer generates a standard web application from that model by a fixed set of rules, rather than another desktop app. Engineers handle the architecture and pick substitutes for controls and components with no modern equivalent.
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Test side by side against the old system
The old system and the new one run on the same inputs, and the outputs are compared automatically. The tests are built from your existing test plans.
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Migrate in stages
You can move in stages, testing each one against the old system before going on. Engineers sign off on the results before anything replaces the original.
Vivify generates the new application from the model, which automates more than 90% of the conversion work. The custom pieces no automated conversion can handle are done by engineers, deliberately. How Vivify counts it.
What you get
- Standard TypeScript and React code that you own
- The automated tests, which your team keeps after handover
- No proprietary runtime underneath, and no VB6 runtime to keep alive
- Documentation of the business rules, recovered from the code during analysis
How We Do It
What every project gets, whether you launch, scale, or modernize.
Reusable Infrastructure
Sign-in, messaging, data, payments, and real-time, proven in production for more than a decade. We reuse what's solved and spend the effort on what makes your product different.
Design-Led Thinking
Design comes before code. UX research and wireframes first, so what we build is something people want to use.
Security Built In
Access controls, audit trails, and careful data handling from day one, with the discipline of our HIPAA-ready healthcare work on every project.
AI-Accelerated Delivery
AI handles the repetitive work, so projects move faster and cost less. Senior engineers check everything it produces, security included.
Senior experience
Since 2014, senior leads in the US and Japan have run every project. They know where software projects go wrong, so you get fewer surprises.
Capacity when you need it
When the work grows, our extended team in Vietnam and specialists in Europe and South America add capacity. Your lead stays the same.
Common questions
What happens to our COM components and ActiveX controls?
They are mapped as dependencies during the analysis, so you see what the application relies on before anything is converted. Some old controls, third-party components, and platform calls have no direct modern replacement. For those, an engineer picks the substitute and wires it in.
Why not just upgrade to VB.NET?
VB.NET is a different language, not a newer version of VB6, so the code does not carry across by opening it in a modern Visual Studio. A rewrite in .NET also leaves you with another Windows desktop app. Conversion carries the working behavior across from your real source into a standard web application.
Do we have to convert everything at once?
No. You can migrate in stages, testing each stage against the old system before moving on, and engineers sign off on the results before anything replaces the original.
Who owns the converted code?
You do. It's standard code with no proprietary runtime underneath, and your team keeps the automated tests after handover.
Who do we contract with, Fluxweave or Vivify?
Fluxweave. Vivify is our modernization brand. You contract with Fluxweave LLC, or with Fluxweave KK if you are in Japan, and the same team handles the conversion and the new features after it.
Replacing a legacy system?
Start with a free assessment call about your system and goals. From there, Vivify, our modernization practice, can run a fixed-scope assessment of your code.